Tuesday, November 8, 2005

About Face!

Oh, my goodness! I was enlightened this morning went I went to About Face. They promote positive self-esteem in all girls and women. Check this out:

"Many women suffer from body dissatisfaction, and assiduous dieting and the relentless pursuit of thinness has become a normative behavior among women in Western society (Rodin, Silberstein & Striegel-Moore,1984). Thinness has not only come to represent attractiveness, but also has come to symbolize success, self-control and higher socioeconomic status. Marketdata Enterprises, Inc. estimated the size of the weight loss industry for 1994 at $32,680 billion.Body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders are more prevalent among females than males. This gender specificity is apparent in that over 90% of patients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa are women (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

Women and girls are also consistently taught from an early age that their self-worth is largely dependent on how they look. The fact that women earn more money than men in only two job categories, those of modeling and prostitution serves to illustrate this point (Wolf, 1992).

The media promotes and reflects the current mainstream culture's standards for body shape or size and importance of beauty. The media reflect images of thinness and link this image to other symbols of prestige, happiness, love and success for women. Repeated exposure to the thin ideal via the various media can lead to the internalization of this ideal. It also renders these images achievable and real. Until women are confronted with their own mirror images they will continue to measure themselves against an inhuman ideal."

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Cintia Listenbee is a Journalist, Speaker but more importantly, she is the wife of Pastor Zeke Listenbee and the mother of 3 amazing children. This SimplyCintia.com is the bilingual (English/Português) blog where she spreads hope one post at the time. Cintia enjoys running marathons and listening to audio books. She was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To work with Cintia, go to CintiaListenbee.com